BENGALURU: Rohil Verma, a Bengaluru-based Class 12 student has developed SOS India, an Android application that can connect users to the nearest ambulance and emergency care centre.

The app, which aims to assist people in medical emergencies and save several critical minutes after a mishap, works even in cases of poor or no internet connectivity. It initiates a call automatically, after which the user is required to talk over the phone and provide details of the emergency, Verma said. He said he came up with the idea for the app when his family once came home to find his grandmother critically injured due to a fall, after which her agony extended for a few more hours as she had to wait for an ambulance.

“Today, there is an ambulance service available by dialling 108, but most prominent private hospitals which have advanced ambulances are not on the service,” said Verma, who has visited the city’s hospitals and studied their emergency-care systems. “And if the patients are outside their home locality when they need emergency care, it is quite likely that they may not know how to contact the closest hospital with advanced emergency care facilities.”

To solve this problem, he built SOS India, which is now connected to about 30 established hospitals in the city, such as Manipal Hospital, Chinmaya Mission Hospital and St John’s Hospital.

He envisions creating a platform that will connect anyone in danger to doctors or any person trained in emergency treatment, as well as alert their friends or family about the emergency.

Verma’s app can be a good solution, said Anand Madanagopal, founder of Bengaluru-based Cardiac Design Labs, while cautioning that more needs to be done to make it work.

“Who picks up the call, is the ambulance available, and do they trust you to pay — these are issues that need to be tackled,” said Madanagopal.